May 23, 2007
Dear Fellow A1 Team Owners and A1GP Executive Management,
With our A1 TEAM USA/A1GP car successfully qualified into the 16th starting position for the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500, we focused last weekend on running quality laps rather than quantity with our No. 15 entry. We ran 152 laps over two days on the famous 2 1/2-mile Speedway to refine our car to race conditions. We were very pleased with the results.
Buddy Rice ran 63 laps on Friday in the “We the People” A1 TEAM USA/A1GP entry, with a best lap of 221.218 miles per hour. That's a solid race-pace speed. We used worn tires and ran with what they call "half-tanks" and Buddy was pleased with how the car performed.
We really got after it on Saturday, running 89 laps--the third highest total for the day--in full simulated race conditions. Our fast lap was 221.460 miles per hour, but pure speed wasn't the goal. We filled the A1 TEAM USA/A1GP car up three times, used some good tires from practice we had saved, and ran the entire tank of 22 gallons of ethanol fuel. (Think Green as A1 GP logo reads.) The engines are getting much better mileage than with methanol, which was used up to this year, and the IndyCar Series has reduced the fuel cell from 30 gallons. We can go 28 laps on a tank. That's the target for every car. Buddy liked the balance for the entire full-tank run. He asked for only minor adjustments between them.
We were 98 percent complete in our preparations and sat out Sunday, the final full day of practice. Our team will go through the car to make sure it is ready for run 500 miles and we'll run 10 to 20 laps on Carb Day, May 25, in the one-hour practice that remains to ensure we haven't missed anything.
A1 TEAM USA/A1GP also has associate sponsorship on the No. 5 driven by Sarah Fisher and the No. 24 driven by Roger Yasukawa. (look for the A1 logos on the engine covers of both cars!) Sarah's 221.960 4-lap average starts her from 21st position, the outside of the seventh row. Roger joined the Dreyer & Reinbold team for the second week and was the fastest qualifier Saturday--the third day of Time Trials--at 222.654 to secure 23rd starting position, the middle of the eighth row. Buddy averaged 222.826 and starts from the inside of the sixth row.
There's a good feeling in our garage about the month we've had--solid speeds, no crashes and we think a car that Buddy can challenge for victory on May 27.
The field had 32 cars in it by Saturday, leaving one spot to be filled. It
was filled early Sunday and that triggered the Bump Day process in which faster cars knock the slowest cars from the race. The qualifying process is extended and unusual in that slower cars can start ahead of faster cars depending upon which day they qualified, but in the end, the fastest 33 start the race.
Phil Giebler, our A1 TEAM USA driver in six A1GP events last season, was the only driver to bump his way into the race. Phil, a rookie at Indianapolis, ran 219.637 and starts 33rd.
The Indianapolis 500 will again be attended by over 400,000 spectators and 400 million viewers will watch it on television worldwide on ABC and ESPN International. It is also broadcast on radio, on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway network in the United States and Canada. There are more than 400 stations on the
IMS network. Additionally, the LeSea Broadcasting network provides worldwide shortwave radio coverage and the American Forces Radio Network broadcasts to United States military installations and ships around the world.
You can keep up with our Indy adventure by checking out our daily diary at our web site: A1TEAMUSAtv.com.
We're very excited to be in the Indy 500 representing A1 TEAM USA and A1GP and we look forward to having a great race on May 27.
Best regards,
Rick Weidinger